MONDAY – Offensive Preview
TUESDAY – Defensive Preview
WEDNESDAY – Week 1 Preview
SATURDAY – SOU vs. Lincoln (Calif.) | 1 p.m. | Tickets

ASHLAND – Southern Oregon has a new offensive coordinator, and while it may be a familiar refrain, it should not be cause for concern given the stability of the pieces in place.

In fact, the Raiders' offense on paper reads as their deepest, most experienced and potentially most explosive in years. After putting up over 30 points per game last season for the first time since 2018, they return a fourth-year starter at quarterback in Blake Asciutto, four regular starters on the offensive line, their top-four leaders in receptions and two of the Frontier Conference's more dangerous running backs in Isaiah Hidalgo and Gunner Yates.

The man in charge is Ty Currie, who this summer became SOU's fifth different offensive coordinator in five years. Currie spent his first season with the Raiders as quarterbacks coach following a long stay at Western Oregon, where he was the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2019 and stayed on as an assistant.

"Ty brings a high level of organization, offensive knowledge and consistency for us," SOU head coach Berk Brown said. "For as young as he is, he's wise beyond his years."

Currie's promotion corresponded with Greg Stewart accepting an offensive analyst position at University of Arizona after one season as coordinator and 10 overall on the SOU staff. At UA, Stewart joined another Raider alum, Matt Adkins, in his first season as the Wildcats' pass-game coordinator and tight ends coach.

"My message to the team was that our plan isn't changing, we just have someone else calling plays," Currie said. "We all love Coach Stewart – the relationships we built with him are special – and not having him around is hard, but coaches come and go in the college football world we live in. There'll be some tweaks here and there but we don't have to learn an all-new system, and I think that gave our guys some relief."

QUARTERBACKS
Though Blake Asciutto has three years of starting experience under his belt, his senior season will be the first that he enters at No. 1 on the depth chart. An injury left him as the starter for the final eight games of 2022, over which he posted a Frontier-high 238 passing yards per game. He assumed backup duties again at the beginning of 2023 but left no doubt by the end of the campaign: The Raiders went 5-1 after he took over, and he completed 60% of his attempts with 220 yards per game, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions over the second half of the season. With 37 career TD passes he's five away from cracking the top-five in SOU history, and his big-play capabilities were on display with 70-yard TDs in three of his final four outings of last year.

"Most people wouldn't respond very well to a situation like Blake had last year when he was the starter all spring and then named the No. 2 in the fall, but his ability to be a great teammate and not think of himself really got the guys to buy into him," Currie said. "He's the same guy every day – confident but quirky and having a good time no matter what's thrown at him – and I think his teammates really appreciate that."

Currie says competition for the backup job is ongoing. For now it belongs to Brennan Stults, the junior who went 9-of-10 with three TD passes in the spring game against Kwansei Gakuin after completing 9-of-11 attempts over two appearances in the fall. McCade Long and Dash Smith, both redshirt-freshman, have had their moments in camp.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Stewart's departure also opened a spot for a new offensive line coach, Tim Souza, a former player at Humboldt State who has a decade of high-school coaching experience and spent the last two years as offensive coordinator at Luther College (Iowa). Souza inherits perhaps the team's most dependable position group. It's headlined by senior right tackle Braden Reed, an All-FC second-team selection, and junior Duncan Hicks, an All-FC honorable mention recipient at center. Seniors Nick Espinoza and Gustavo Mendez, both regular starters throughout their careers, are back at the right and left guard spots, and junior Matthew Shaddle is penciled in to fill the void at left tackle in his fourth season on the roster.

They have flexibility within the top group, particularly at center and guard, and capable backups in Allen Arriaga, Emanuel Sanchez, Nathan Self-Cordova, Kenan Weinmaster and Patrick Wooley. A year ago they helped the Raiders generate 4.5 yards per rush and surrendered just five sacks over an eight-game stretch.

"That's a really veteran and versatile group," Currie said. "Most of those guys have been playing together for a long time and they've developed their own language. They give us a lot of confidence in our ability to execute."

RUNNING BACKS
For a team that lost a 14-touchdown rusher in Avery McCuaig, there is no question the Raiders have enough firepower left over in the backfield. Last year's backup, Isaiah Hidalgo, is still in place. The senior proved electric in spots with 5.9 yards per attempt, ranking second among FC players who accumulated over 400 rushing yards, and was a frequent target in the passing game with 15 receptions for 133 yards. The game-changing addition to the offense, though, comes in the form of Gunner Yates' return. The 6-foot, 205-pound sophomore appeared in two games while redshirting last season, coming off an injury and a freshman season in which he punched in nine TDs over a four-game stretch. Yates owns a career average of 6.0 yards per rush – he was second on the Frontier leaderboard in 2022 – and showed up as the go-to guy in the spring game against KGU, scoring five TDs while rushing 14 times for 145 yards.

"Even though I think we're pretty explosive even without Gunner, he just brings a different element to the game," Currie said. "When he steps into the mix it takes us to another level where teams have to load up the box to stop him. It affects the defense a lot. He's special."

The potential of JaQuieze Holland and Alexander Angulo, two more of last year's redshirts, is also intriguing. The Raiders expect to get contributions too from Glen Leith-Ross, Tyler Addison and David Brown. Their fullback looks are expected to include Ryan Pelton and Henry Rankin, both sophomores.

RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
The Raiders lost very little from last year's group, and the size of their targets is again advantageous. Tight end Jackson Clemmer and receiver Sawyer Cleveland, both standing at 6-6, are back for their final season and coming off All-FC second-team selections. SOU had the NAIA's fourth-best red-zone touchdown rate (75%) thanks in large part to Clemmer, who led the team and was sixth in the Frontier with eight TD receptions, while Cleveland had a breakout campaign in his first year as a starter with 4.0 receptions for 52.7 yards per game. Sophomore Trevor Jaasko, standing at 6-2, was a starter by the final game of 2023 and is No. 1 on the outside opposite Cleveland. In the slot, senior Adrik Lamar has proven reliable with 60 career receptions and 715 yards to his credit, and Rayden Kaneshiro enters Week 1 as the starter after making 11 catches for 107 yards last year.

SOU made two notable additions: Brandon Barthel, a redshirt in 2023 at Valparaiso (Ind.) after starting two seasons at American River C.C. (Calif.), and James Mintmier, who arrived for his senior season via Minot State (N.D.). They'll complement a group that includes more returners in Dawson Douglas, Dylan Kee-Ball and Cole Plum-Kazmierczak. The tight-end corps get more punch from senior Ted Wickman – who made 10 catches last season and had two TD receptions against KGU – and junior Jeremiah Faulstick, who added 12 receptions in 2023.

"We're in a really fortunate position with this group," Currie said. "We're pretty deep and talented on the outside and it allows us to be very multiple in terms of looks. I think it makes us different than a lot of teams we'll play, and everyone's going to get a shot at it."